Broward County school officials admitted on Sunday that the confessed perpetrator of the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre was assigned to the "PROMISE" disciplinary program, an admission that came after the superintendent previously claimed he had no connection to the program.
Nikolas Cruz was referred to the disciplinary program for youths after he committed vandalism at his middle school in 2013, WLRN.org reports. "PROMISE," short for Preventing Recidivism through Opportunities, Mentoring, Interventions, Supports and Education, launched that same year with the goal of eliminating the "school-to-prison" pipeline:
The PROMISE program allows students who commit certain misdemeanors — there's an official list of 13 — at school to avoid getting involved with the criminal justice system. Instead, they attend the alternative school, where they receive counseling and other support.
PROMISE has come under scrutiny after 17 people died in the Feb. 14 shooting at Stoneman Douglas, in part because one of the injured survivors is planning a lawsuit that will argue the program led school leaders to demonstrate a lax attitude toward discipline.
While Cruz was referred to it, WLRN reports it's unclear if he ever attended.
The Broward County Sheriff's office said he did not attend the program, while Broward public schools spokeswoman Tracy Clark said Cruz appeared at Pine Ridge Education Center in Fort Lauderdale, the alternative school where PROMISE is housed, for an intake interview one day after the vandalism incident.
Superintendent Robert Runcie, who said last month Cruz had "no connection" to the program, said PROMISE has been effective in preventing recidivism. Clark said Runcie was correct in saying Cruz had no connection to the program, although Runcie didn't previously specify Cruz didn't have a connection to it while in high school.
Cruz was suspended for fighting and verbal assault while a student at Stoneman Douglas, but those infractions didn't meet PROMISE referral standards.
A Stoneman Douglas freshman, Anthony Borges, is suing several agencies and individuals he believes were negligent in their efforts to prevent the shooting, among them the school district for its PROMISE practices.
"You failed us students, teachers and parents alike on so many levels," his lawyer said on Borges' behalf to Runcie and Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. "I want to ask you today to please end your policy and agreement that you will not arrest people committing crimes in our schools."
The 19-year-old Cruz has confessed to murdering 17 people at the high school on Feb. 14. The massacre touched off a fierce national debate about gun control.
The Broward County Sheriff's office also has come under criticism for its officers' conduct as the shooting unfolded and for not following up on multiple warnings about Cruz before the massacre took place.
Sheriff Scott Israel received a vote of "no confidence" from his deputies last month, although he claimed shortly after the shooting he had provided "amazing leadership" to the agency.
Israel participated in a gun control town hall on CNN before negative details about the office's response to the shooting came to the public's attention. A Democrat, Israel cheered on the calls for stricter gun control laws at the event.